As long as you're happy, Makoto
by Pashiki
Summary: Makoto is a girl that recently moved to the small town of Iwatobi. In a fit of anger she cuts her hair and is mistaken for a boy in her new class. However that does not bother her at all and she keeps pretending years after that. But can she keep it a secret for the rest of her life, especially if her passion is swimming?
1. Chapter 1

Bad summary I know, but this idea kept me awake for a whole night and I had to write it. This first chapter is some of it I've written so far and I wanted to know if there is any interest for the story, so I know if I should continue writing. I have it all planned out but not that much written. Reviews are appreciated :) Also posted on AO3

* * *

They had been living in their new house for about three days, when Makoto got mad at her mom. The reason for her anger was forgotten soon enough, but the result of it would alter her life. Thinking back about it Makoto vaguely remember that something was lost in the move, something she didn't really like but still got upset about losing.

She remembers that she screamed at her mom and locked herself in the bathroom, leaning against the door. Everything from the shelves to the sink to the bathtub was so unfamiliar from her old bathroom that she started tearing up. It was unfair. It wasn't like she left behind any friends in the old town, but she had been forced to leave the home she had spent her short life of eight years.

Her mom knocked on the door and gently called for her, but Makoto refused to listen and instead walked away from the door, not wanting see her mother's sad face and apologetic smile. She found herself in front of the mirror, a rectangular shaped mirror on the middle of the wall. Her face was red and her long strands of hair had stuck to the fresh tear streaks on her cheeks.

Makoto hadn't meant to do it. It was as if something had forced her. One moment she was looking into her own eyes, the next she turned around and rummaged through on of the boxes on the floor, filled with a strong urge. She found the scissors almost immediately and brought it without hesitations to a long strand of hair and snippet it off. Her hand found another lock of hair and then another, which she all snippet off with the scissors.

As she let the last lock of hair fall down to the floor, she looked up to the mirror again. Her hair was very unevenly cut, not to mention short. Suddenly realising what she had done, Makoto dropped the scissors in the sink. She remembers the fear she felt when she thought how her mom would react. Makoto glanced at the floor, filled with locks of her brunette hair.

A thought of jumping out the window and hide was quickly dismissed. Her mom would find out either way. With a shaky breath she walked to the door and unlocked it, before opening it up and revealing herself.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled and suddenly felt fresh tears escaping her eyes. However, instead of being yelled at, she was embraced into a hug. She felt her mother's hands caressing her short hair and she too mumbled that she was sorry. For what, Makoto didn't understand.

Later the same day when her dad had gotten home and seen her hair, he had been shocked. Then after a small talk with her mom he had put on a careful smile that made Makoto felt guilty. He had taken a step forward and gently ruffled her hair.

"It suits you, Makoto." He had said.

* * *

The next day it was Monday and it would be Makoto's first day in the new school. She felt a bit insecure about her hair, but her mother had kindly trimmed it for her so it didn't look as bad as it did. The elementary school she was attending had no school uniforms and seeing as it was in the middle of autumn she dressed in a big green hoodie with a pair of jeans.

It was quite windy outside and Makoto held onto her father's hand as they walked to the school. It didn't take more than ten minutes to reach the main gate and the schoolyard was filled with kids, some running around, some playing soccer and some other just talking to one another. Makoto realised that most of the other kids that would be in her class would have known each other for at least a year. They walked through the entrance door and her dad led her to a room that was her new classroom. A small sense of panic filled her as she felt her dad let go of her hand. She looked up at him with wide eyes, begging him not to leave her alone.

"Don't worry Makoto. I'll come pick you up the minute school ends, but right now I need to go to work." He said and smiled at her. When she didn't reply he sat down on his knees and gave her a small kiss on the top of her head. "You'll be fine." He promised and stood up. She gave a small nod and a careful smile while her dad walked away while waving.

As if on cue, a bell rang loudly and echoed in the empty corridors. Voices where heard followed by quick steps, and Makoto silently slinked in the classroom and sat down on a chair while secretly hoping she hadn't taken anyone's place. Not sooner than she had taken a seat did students barge in through the door, laughing and yelling. All of them took sat down on the chairs, and it seemed that nobody noticed Makoto.

She let out a sigh of relief where she sat, when she suddenly felt something poking at her. She turned her head and saw a raven-haired boy with blue eyes. He stared at her with a puzzled look but didn't make any move suggesting that he would speak.

"Hello, I'm Tachibana Makoto. This is my first day here." She said and gave a tentative smile. The boy just continued to stare at her and Makoto felt a bit uncomfortable. "Um, what's your name?" she decided to ask while glancing around the classroom. So far nobody else seemed to have seen her, except for this boy.

"Nanase Haruka." He answered shortly. She was surprised that his name sounded so girly, but she didn't get the chance to ask about it as Haruka broke eye contact with her to look at the door. Curious, Makoto also turned around and saw an older woman with a kind smile walk in the classroom. As soon as the other students saw her they went quiet.

"Good morning class." she greeted them and took a seat in the front. "Today, we have a new student joining us." She continued and looked down at some papers on her desk. At her statement all eyes moved to Makoto as if they just noticed her.

"Please welcome Tachibana Makoto-chan" The teacher said. However, before she could continue, Haruka, the boy sitting next to Makoto raised his hand. "Yes, Haruka-kun?" she gently said with a smile.

"Sensei, Makoto is a boy with a girly name like me, so please drop the 'chan'." He stated calmly. Makoto looked at the boy with wide eyes, which seemed to go unnoticed by the rest of the class and also Haruka. Was he messing with the teacher? Or had he really mistaken her for a boy?

"Ah, sorry Makoto-kun, my mistake." She said with a flustered look on her face. Makoto however wasn't sure what to say. The whole class is looking at her now, and she nervously scratches behind her ear. Not wanting to bring any unnecessary attention to herself she puts on a smile and releases a hesitant chuckle.

"D-don't worry sensei, i-it happens sometimes." Well, it had never happened to Makoto before. She glanced at Haruka, but he showed no signs of emotions on his face.

At the end of the day, when Makoto was picked up by her dad as promised, he asked her about her day. She told him about her teacher and that she was really nice. She told him about the boy, Haruka who was the first one to talk to her. She told him about how the boys in her class had played soccer during recess and had asked her to join in, all while sporting one of the biggest smiles her dad had ever seen on his daughter.

"So you've made friends already? That's great Makoto." He didn't question the fact that she didn't mention any of the girls; after all it didn't matter who she hung out as long as she was happy.

The moment she stepped inside the house she made her way to her room and stopped in front of the mirror. She stood in front of it for minutes, turning around in different angles and studied herself. With her now short hair she did look like a boy and the hoodie she wore didn't help to say otherwhise. Though oddly enough, she realised that it didn't bother her. Not as much as it should have at least.


	2. Chapter 2

A month passed. Every day in school she would hang out with Haruka and she soon learned that he lived near her, so they often spent time after school too. He still thought she was a boy and Makoto let him believe that. However, she hadn't told her parents either, so it was quite a shock when they read the letter that Makoto got from her teacher.

"Eh? It has to be a mistake." her mother said with a frown after reading the letter. Curious, her father peeked over her shoulder and read it too, a similar frown on his face too.

" 'Dear Mr. and Mrs. Tachibana. Makoto seems to have been settling in well with his new classmates and have no trouble with keeping up his studies. The reason for this letter is to give you an opportunity to book a meeting at the end of next month in case you or Makoto have any questions.' "her father read-aloud. "'His'?" he repeated. He turned to his daughter.

"Makoto?" Makoto suddenly turned bright red and settled with looking down at the floor. She hadn't even thought about her parents ever finding out. Now both of her parents looked at her with eyes filled with questions, and Makoto suddenly felt very stupid. They were probably mad at her and she felt a pang of guilt inside her. Had she embarrassed them?

"Makoto? Do you know what this is about?" her mother asked her again since she hadn't answered the first time.

Should she lie? Probably not, she had never lied to her parents; she had only not told them about things. But now they knew something was up and there was no point in trying to avoid it.

"Well..." she didn't dare to meet their eyes and continued to stare at the floor like it was made of gold or something. "Everyone thinks I'm a boy." there was silence from both her mother and father, so she took it as a cue to keep going.

"The first day, when the teacher called my name, Haruka said to sensei that I was a boy with a girly name, like him. And I didn't really mind it." she confessed. They were still silent and she felt her eyes burning and realized she was crying.

Makoto saw something in the blurry corner of her eye and before she could blink she was in the arms of her mom who hushed at her.

"Sch, it's okay Makoto. We're not mad at you." she heard her dad say and felt his hand pat her on the head. She didn't know when she started sobbing, only that she couldn't stop it. It took a few minutes before she calmed down and when she did her mother still held her for a while. Makoto opened her eyes to see her mom and dad both kneeling down in front of her.

"Makoto, do you want me to call your teacher and explain to her?" her father asked her. Before she could think she found herself shaking her head frantically.

"Are you really sure, Makoto?" he asked her again and this time she nodded.

"I don't mind being a boy. I like being a boy." she said with a hesitant smile. It was true though, she had never had many friends and the few she had had was boys, who still wouldn't want to hang out with her too much. Now that she had been a boy for a short time, she had more friends than she could have ever imagined.

Her eyes shifted back and forth between her parents and she was met with smiles from both of them. Her mom's looked a bit sadder than her dad's, and Makoto quickly put her arms around her mother and her dad joined in.

"As long as you're happy, Makoto." she said softly to her.

* * *

A month later Makoto started swimming with Haruka. It was something her parents had first opposed to, seeing as she refused to put on a bathing suit. Though they had agreed to let her act and dress like a boy, they were understandably worried about sending her away in just bathing shorts. Makoto herself argued that no one would notice that she was a girl anyway, she was still too young and had no breasts and would probably not get any until years later. After a long and tiresome discussion, they reluctantly agreed to let her have her bathing shorts, under the condition that as soon as she hit puberty she had to quit swimming. Of course she didn't think twice about it and agreed to it happily.

She had swum before in her old school and she was quite good at it, especially backstroke. Haruka though, was an amazing swimmer. Her own skill faded significantly in comparison to him, but she didn't mind because she enjoyed swimming with him, and Haruka simply enjoyed swimming.

Three years after Makoto had begun in her new class and started to swim again, they got a new student in class named Matsouka Rin. It didn't take long until they found out he was a swimmer too and naturally he joined the swim club they attended. There they met Nagisa Hazuki, a boy who was a year younger than them. Both Nagisa and Rin's cheerful attitudes brought out Makoto's good mood and sometimes even Haruka's. They were all good on their individual swimming styles, but together they were practically unbeatable. Which is why, six months later, Makoto didn't find it strange that Rin asked them to swim together in the upcoming relay. However, Haruka questioned it.

"Why all of a sudden do you want to swim in the relay?" Haruka asked Rin with a frown on his face. The question had never been brought up before and it was soon too late to sign up for the competition. Rin smiled at both Haruka and Makoto.

"Why not? I thought it could be fun." he said to Haruka. It didn't seem to persuade Haruka, who kept quiet.

"Come on Haru," Makoto said and took a step towards him "no harm in trying. We don't have to win, we're doing it for fun." she finished and gave him a small smile when he turned towards her.

"Still, tomorrow is the last day to register. Why didn't you say something sooner?" Haruka continued and faced Rin, who looked sad all of a sudden.

"Actually, I'm moving to Australia a few days after the competition. To become a better swimmer." he said to them and looked to the ground. To say that both of them were shocked was an understatement. Makoto briefly remembered that Rin had mentioned his wish to be an Olympic swimmer. So that was what it was all about.

"I wanted to swim one last time with all of you, before I leave." Rin finished and looked up again with a hopeful smile. Makoto returned it and nodded at him, sad that he would leave but glad that he thought of them as important. Haruka did not answer the smile, but he did give a small nod in approval.

"All right, let's all swim together one last time." Haruka said as the bell signaled for them to go in. Later that day Rin approached Nagisa and asked him to join too and the younger boy looked like he had just won the lottery. Makoto herself had been very excited about it and had told her parents as soon as she got home. At the same time she was sad because Rin was leaving and just as any other friend she knew she was going to miss him. Haruka would never admit it, but she was sure that he would miss him too.

* * *

The race had been a success and all of them except Haruka had sported big smiles that day. Unfortunately, most good things comes to an end and even though they had known it, saying goodbye to Rin had been hard for all of them, especially Rin himself had a hard time covering up his sad expression. Nevertheless, they all agreed to keep in touch with him and he left with the promise that they would see each other again.

Some months later Makoto lost contact with Rin and so did Haruka too. About the same time the swim club announced that they would be closing the halls, which meant that Makoto, Haruka and Nagisa had to quit swimming. Some parents, including Makoto's had protested, but it seemed that the plans were impossible to change.

Of course the three of them felt down when they heard the news, but on one hand Makoto was secretly grateful. As it turned out, puberty hit her and she realized that her parents would have taken her out from the club anyway.

It begun with a growth spurt that lasted for a long time and left her towering over Haruka by the time it started to slow down. Next, the part she was most afraid of was her breasts growing but the worry seemed to have been unnecessary, because they didn't grow as big as expected. They were small enough to hide under a baggy t-shirt and if she ever needed to she learned that she could tape them. The last part, that was the scariest of them all, was her first period.

Luckily, she had been home that day when she had felt the pain. Unfortunately, she was all alone in the house save for Haruka, who played video games with her. Of course he had been worried about her when she suddenly rolled up from the pain.

"Makoto, what's wrong?" Haruka asked her with more expression than usual and immediately dropped his controller to check up on her. Despite the throbbing pain in her abdomen, she managed to give him a small yet forced smile.

"It's okay Haruka, it doesn't hurt that much." she said and tried to look unaffected. However, Haruka was not buying it and reached out his hand to touch her forehead. "I don't have a fever Haruka, I think I might just have eaten something bad." she explained to him carefully, and he reluctantly removed his hand. Another surge of pain hit her and she let out an involuntarily gasp. After a brief moment of silence she let out a quiet plead, "Could you please call my mom?"

Nodding, Haruka went out to the hall and quickly dialed the number to Mrs. Tachibana's cell, who immediately agreed to come home upon hearing about her 'son'.

After Haruka had put down the phone he went back to Makoto and sat beside her with a comforting arm around her, even though the hold became awkward because of the angle and stayed with her until Mrs. Tachibana stood in the doorway and gently ushered him outside and asked him to come back tomorrow instead with an apologetic smile.

Haruka did not want to make Mrs. Tachibana upset and unwillingly left Makoto, who gave him a painful smile and waved at him. The next day when they came to school, Makoto lied to him and told him the same thing as she had the day before, that she had eaten something bad. Thankfully, Haruka seemed to accept that as an answer and gave a curt nod. Though if he believed it or not, Makoto wasn't sure, but she doubted that he would draw the conclusion that she was a girl just because of that.

Over the years she had learned how to best disguise her female body so that even she sometimes was convinced that she really wasn't a girl. Still, her mom would still occasionally come home with dresses and skirts. The first time she did Makoto had nearly thrown a fit over it, but as time passed and new clothes were still added to her wardrobe the conversation was practically always the same.

"Makoto, I went shopping and found this pretty dress." her mom says and held out a green garment that shifted from lighter to darker. Her face looked expectant, like she wanted Makoto to throw herself over it and claim it as hers. That was what hurt Makoto the most, because her mom had herself been one of them who had decided to support her decision. Instead of looking at the dress she looked up to her mom's eyes and let out a sigh.

"Mom, how many times have we been over this? I don't want any dresses. I'll probably never even wear them." she said and flipped a page in the book in front of her, just so she would have an excuse to look away from her mother's sad eyes.

"Oh," her mother said in a defeated voice "well, I guess Ran might be able to grow in them one day. So in the meantime, I'll put it in your closet." she finished and opened the closet door before laying it down on the shelf in the back, were all of the other dresses and skirts lay tucked away beneath a blanket. Makoto's younger siblings Ren and Ran were barely seven years old, but that was still the excuse her mother would come with. Secretly she must've hoped that Makoto would one day tell everyone about her secret, but it would be difficult now, especially since she had sticked to it since she was eight. Now she was 16 and tomorrow she would begin her second year of high school.

She continued to flip through the book, not reading it at all and just hoped that her mother would leave her alone. Eventually she did and Makoto closed the book with a sigh and glanced towards her clock. It was late enough so she could be excused to bed and that was exactly what she did.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry if it took a while, like I said school's been busy lately. Anyway, here is a new chapter of the story! Any errors are mine or Microsoft Words :)

* * *

The first day of school had been as usual. This year both she and Haruka had ended up in the same class, but the other one was nowhere to be seen. Makoto slightly wondered why, because Haruka rarely skipped, but since it was only the first day she supposed that his absence were of no importance. There had been a brief ceremony where they had welcomed the pupils to yet another exciting year. Shortly afterwards they were ordered to go to their respectively classrooms and meet their teacher. In this case Makoto's class had a new teacher, a young woman named Miho Amakata who greeted all of them with a smile.

"Hello students and welcome back to school. Since I'm new here I might as well introduce myself. My name is Miho Amakata and I am your classic literature teacher and also your homeroom teacher. I hope that we'll all get along nicely." she said and bowed to them. Throughout the classroom she got noises of approval and Makoto heard from some boys behind her that they recognized her from somewhere, but she didn't get time to dwell on it for too long since it was time for a roll-call. One by one the other students answered when their names came up and as expected when she came to Makoto's name she let out a 'chan' at the end.

"Excuse me sensei, but I am a boy." Makoto had raised her hand and said. Amakata became flustered over her 'mistake' but quickly saved the situation.

"I'm terribly sorry Makoto-kun." she said and quickly scribbled something on her paper. After she was done with most of it she stopped at one of the names on the list. "It says that Nanase Haruka-chan hasn't reported himself to the gathering today, does anybody know where she is?" she continued and Makoto raised her hand yet again.

"He is probably home sick today, sensei." she stated and made emphasize on the 'He' part and saw as Amakata blushed and cursed to herself, before scribbling on the paper yet again.

The rest of the day went by uneventful and Haruka didn't show up at all. When Makoto walked home she wondered if she should visit him, to check up on him, but decided against it. She would see him first thing in the morning anyway.

* * *

"Haru-chan!" she yelled at him when she entered the bathroom and saw that he lay in the tub with his swimming trunks on. Not for the first time, ever since she almost walked in on him while he was naked she had convinced him to wear shorts. He had given her a strange look but regardless he had agreed to it. Haruka loved water and if Makoto hadn't known him for so long she would be convinced that he was some kind of sea-creature, like a dolphin or a merman. Then again, who said he wasn't? He had known her just as long and he still didn't know about her secret. She turned around to the shelf and dragged out a fresh towel and held it out for him. Haruka opened his eyes slightly and looked towards her, before closing them again and leaning back. A little annoyed about the gesture she yelled again.

"Hurry and get out of the tub, we're going to be late for school!" Haruka sighed in a defeated manner before he got up from the tub reluctantly and took the offered towel, standing face to face with Makoto. Well, basically face to face, seeing as Makoto still got a few inches on him. She was grateful about her height and because her frame wasn't that broad she was often seen as a slim boy wearing big t-shirts, giving an illusion of a bigger build. The uniforms with their shoulder pads helped her uphold that illusion even in school.

"Drop the 'chan'." He said and made his way past her and out from the bathroom and Makoto now heard herself let out a sigh. Ever since they stopped swimming Haruka had been like this and the only times he was somewhat satisfied was when he could swim in the ocean and soon it would be warm enough to do that. He had tried to bring Makoto to the water too, but she always declined, politely of course. Sure, she was longing to swim again, but not in the ocean and Haruka didn't push it, knowing well why.

She went after him down to the kitchen and was prepared to leave right away. Unfortunately, Haruka seemed to have other plans and opened the fridge to bring out a package with mackerel and started the frying pan with nothing but his shorts and an apron. Makoto had thought he would at least have some decency to put on his clothes, but that did not seem to be the case.

After about fifteen minutes of Haruka eating his breakfast and getting dressed and Makoto sighing and impatiently pacing the kitchen they were off. The walk to school wasn't that far and both of them enjoyed the silence when they walked, save for the occasional car driving past them.

"We're in the same class again Haru. We even got a new teacher." Makoto said after a few minutes anyway, whether Haruka wanted to know or not. Suddenly thinking about yesterday she quickly added "Oh yeah, the teacher thought both you and me were girls, because of our names." she let out a chuckle and but when she looked at Haruka he seemed unfazed by it. It wasn't the first time for either of them. For Makoto it had been when she first started school in Iwatobi, but 'mistaken' might be the wrong word since they were right. She cleared her throat a bit and continued to walk, Haruka looking at the ocean with eyes full of longing.

"You'll be able to swim again soon Haru." she said to him with a kind smile and was met with an, for Haruka at least, excited look. Swimming was everything for him and it was unfair that the swim club closed down. There were even rumors circulating that it was to be demolished soon because of its decayed condition.

It didn't take long for them to reach the main gate of the school and Makoto took the lead and walked to the classroom, since she'd been the only one of them both to be present yesterday. Taking long strides so that they would reach their homeroom before the bell rung, it wasn't surprizing that she suddenly bumped into someone and lost her footing for a brief moment. Luckily, Haruka had been right behind her and quickly straightened her up.

"Ah, I'm so sorry! I didn't pay attention to where I was going!" she got out and bowed with an flustered expression planted on her face.

"Ah, it's okay, I- Haru-chan! Mako-chan!" the one she had bumped into said cheerfully and Makoto looked up in surprise.

"Ah, Nagisa!" she exclaimed happily and her face lit up. Indeed, it was the same boy she and Haruka had swum with all those years ago. He had grown quite a bit but she could tell that he was shorter than both her and Haruka. Before she could say anything else he had taken a step forward and proceeded to hug both her and then Haruka, who looked utterly uncomfortable with it.

"So how have you guys been?" he asked them both but Makoto knew it was more directed to her since Haruka would probably not say anything. Sure enough, Haruka stayed quiet and turned his head slightly to Makoto, waiting for her to continue the conversation. However, before she could utter a word, the bell rung.

"Sorry Nagisa, we need to go. But we can meet up at lunch, okay?" she looked apologetic and bowed another time before taking Haruka's hand and dragging him the last corridor down to the classroom. Haruka had a neutral face but Makoto was practically beaming. She hadn't seen Nagisa since about the time the swim club ended and she remembered all the fun all of them had. She slightly wondered if Haruka felt the same way but as of the moment he was unreadable. As always.

* * *

When lunch finally came she and Haruka walked out of the classroom along with the others and were met by Nagisa who stood and waited outside with a bento in his hand. He made a gesture and pointed to the ceiling.

"I thought we could eat at the roof, so we could get some time to catch up." He said with a smile and Makoto nodded at him. Since she had both her and Haruka's lunch in her hand he couldn't protest about it and within a minute they had arrived on top of the school. The sun shone bright and the air was still. All in all it was a beautiful day and as they sat down Makoto leaned against the wall and closed her eyes with a sigh, enjoying the warm rays shining over her face. At her left side she heard Haruka ruffle with the cover of his bento that Makoto's mom had happily prepared for him and on her right she heard Nagisa munch on his too.

"I sure miss swimming." Nagisa suddenly mumbled and Makoto opened her eyes to look at him. However, Nagisa wasn't looking at her; he was looking to his far right. Curiously she peeked over his head and saw the empty crater in the ground that used to be filled with water years ago. Now it was filled with dirt and leaves and seemed to have been forgotten. She felt herself nod at him even though his attention had yet to divert from the abandoned pool.

"Yeah, me too." She mumbled back. From the corner of her eye did she see Haruka turned to the pool as well and she knew that he missed it the most. After all, water was everything for Haruka.

"I know!" Nagisa suddenly exclaimed and turned around with a hurried voice that Makoto thought was a bit too cheerful. "We can start a swim club!" he had dropped his bento and was now leaning awfully close towards her with an excited smile. Honestly, she had in the first year gone behind Haruka's back and tried to talk to the principal about filling the pool and start a club, like Nagisa was suggesting now. It had been futile however when she was told that the interest was too low and it would not happen. That's why she couldn't help but put on a frown against the younger blonde.

"Nagisa, although I'd love that I'm not sure we'll be able to do that. There's a lot of other clubs that needs the money and will get them. Besides, you can't start a club on three persons. That's the rules." She said and noticed that she had recited most of what the principal told her not one year ago.

"Ah, it's too late now, Haru-chan already caught the bait." Nagisa said with a smirk and looked over Makoto's shoulder and Makoto did the same. Indeed, Haruka was watching the empty pool with his excited blue eyes he reserved for water and mackerel. A defeated sigh escaped Makoto's lips as she realized she probably had to do all work with starting the club and she knew that finding members would not be easy. Especially since all of the other clubs were really popular. As if sensing her worries, Nagisa patted her on the head.

"Don't worry Mako-chan, I know a perfect person who can join us!" he said cheerily with a grin. Somehow she doubted it but she gave him a small smile nonetheless. After all, she didn't want to make Haruka upset by saying it would be impossible, at least not right now when he still had that shine in his eyes. Suddenly the bell rung and Makoto hurriedly stood up, knocking Nagisa back a step and Haruka followed her. She made a quick bow towards him the now standing Nagisa.

"I'm afraid lunch is over Nagisa." She said apologetic and made her way to the door were Haruka stood and waited. Seriously, he was fast when he wanted to. Before she could go through it though, Nagisa grabbed her wrist in a hurry.

"Wait! Let's all meet up tonight at our old swim club!" he exclaimed and a look of confusion passed over Makoto's features. However, she didn't have time to question it as Haruka was tugging at her other wrist so she had to do a quick nod at the blonde boy who dropped his hold before following Haruka through the door. Behind her she barely heard Nagisa yell out a "7 pm!" before he was out of sight- and hear-range.


	4. Chapter 4

So sorry for the late update but school and personal life decided to delay this chapter ^^'

* * *

"Ah, he's not here yet." Makoto said with a frown when both she and Haruka stood in front of the entrance. The building didn't hide any mistreatment and the walls were covered in graffiti and tags. It was kind of hard to believe that a place like this that had meant very much for Makoto and Haruka would soon be gone forever. During the day she had wondered why Nagisa wanted them to meet up here and the most logical reason she had come up with was the trophy they had buried. The place was abandoned and as it looked now very dark. It felt rather spooky and she was glad that Haruka stood beside her or she wouldn't have dared to come. Suddenly she felt something brush against her right arm where Haruka definitely not stood and she let out a rather terrified shriek.

"Relax, it's just me." Nagisa appeared beside her with his trademark smile and held up his arms as if he surrendered. Makoto let out a sigh of relief and heard Haruka snort beside her, obviously thinking that the shriek had been amusing. After a brief moment of calm did Makoto let her muscles relax and she gave a hesitant smile at Nagisa, hoping that he would not do something like that again, and noticed just then that he held something in his hands. Nagisa in turn noticed Makoto staring at his hands and he let out a sound as he seemed to remember what he held.

"Ah, I brought flashlights and a shovel." He said as he held out one of the flashlights for Makoto and one for Haruka. Makoto gratefully took one and immediately switched it on while Haruka simply shrugged. He did accept it, but he put it in a pocket on his hoodie and didn't bother with it. After Nagisa had turned his on he pointed it towards the building and started walking without any words and both Makoto and Haruka followed. Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks and turned to Makoto with a grin.

"By the way, you might want to watch out Makoto, they say this place is haunted." He said with a playful tone which did not amuse Makoto who immediately tensed up. If that was true then Makoto would rather just go home and not go any further. But she soon noticed that both Nagisa and Haruka went inside and instead of being left behind she quickly ran after them with a nervous shout of "wait for me!" The thought of being alone outside was scarier than the thought of being inside the old swim club with her friends.

She quickly caught up with them and walked next to Haruka, almost bumping in to him with every step but he didn't seem to care. The inside looked worse than the outside with dirty floors and even more graffiti on the walls. If it hadn't been for the flashlights then she would probably not have been able to see at all since the windows were covered in different tags and grime, blocking out any light that could possibly have made it in. It probably helped that they all were familiar with the building too, but nonetheless it felt a bit creepy inside. Hopefully they could dig out the trophy and get out as soon as possible.

They made it past the swimming pool, which was empty much too Haruka's disappointment and soon reached the doors leading to the yard behind the former club. Nagisa opened the door for them and Makoto hesitantly went through it first and stopped just outside of the door. She shone with her flashlight and a surprised look crossed her features which went unnoticed by the boys. Because just a few feet ahead beside the bush where they had buried the trophy four years ago were a hole in the ground that looked like someone had dug it out not too long ago. When they all got closer they saw that it was most definitely were they buried it, however it was now empty. Nagisa was the first one to speak up.

"Eh? Did somebody steal it?" he said with a surprised voice and Makoto saw that Haruka nodded beside her. It was odd though, there were only a few people who knew about it being buried here and it was not like if it had any value except for sentimental, so who could have done it?

"Stealing is a rather harsh word, since it technically belongs to all of us." a rather irritated voice spoke up behind them and all turned around in shock towards it. Makoto accidently dropped her flashlight and couldn't quite see but she still knew who it had belonged to.

_Rin._

The blonde boy beside her suddenly perked up and with an excited tone yelled out "Rin-chan" to him and Makoto smiled at him, but he didn't show any kind of happiness at seeing them. He looked rather bitter and Makoto felt her smile die down as she bent down and picked up the dropped flashlight and pointed it down to the ground. Through the small light she could see Rin holding a big bold object, most probably the trophy since he had made that statement.

"Rin?" she said with a questioning tone, an obvious surprise evident in her tone. Last time she had seen him he had been happy, despite the circumstances. He looked at her slightly with what she assumed was an annoyed expression, before he turned his head and stared at Haruka.

"Haru, care to explain why you're still hanging out with these two?" he let out with an almost accusing tone. Both Makoto and Nagisa flinched at that, whilst Haruka remained unfazed. He didn't even make an attempt to answer and that felt like a blow. Didn't Haruka have a reason for hanging out with them? Hurt by his words, Makoto looked towards the red-headed boy who didn't look at anything else than the dark haired boy. Eventually, seeing as Haruka didn't show any reaction nor gave him an answer, Rin huffed and looked away.

"Whatever. I didn't come here for a chat anyway. I came here to challenge you." He said to no one in particular, but Makoto knew that he was talking to Haruka. After all, they had been rivals back then and always subconsciously competed against each other. But it had always been for fun those times. Apparently it wouldn't be like that this time. Makoto turned to Haruka in hope that he would just simply brush it off, but she saw the twinkle in his eyes as he accepted the challenge. This wasn't good. She searched for Nagisa's eyes, but he was looking back and forth between Haruka and Rin with an equally worrying expression as her.

When Rin heard the "I accept" coming out from Haruka, he gave a nod and walked to the door and opened it. Before he disappeared through it, he tossed the trophy towards them and Makoto had to jump back a bit in order to avoid it hitting her feet. Before she even had picked it up, Rin was gone. Instead of being angry at Rin's action, she felt sad. This time when she searched for Nagisa's eyes he was already looking at her, but his face didn't give away anything.

"Let's go home." Makoto felt herself say and received a nod from the blonde. They made it through the building and when they parted ways, Nagisa going to the right and Haruka and Makoto to the left, they walked in silence. Without the flashlight, which she had returned to Nagisa, the streets were only lit up with the occasional street-light. At least now it didn't bother Makoto, she had walked this road ever since she was eight and were familiar with all the corners and houses. What did bother her was the fact that Haruka was more silent than usual and that the reason for that was Rin. Sure she had hoped that they would meet up with Rin again, but she hadn't expected it to be so soon, and she definitely hadn't expected the cold greeting they got. As she walked and thought about the annoyed look she had received, Haruka suddenly broke the silence.

"You're my friends." Makoto hastily turned towards him with a confused look. What did he mean? Haruka simply looked towards the ocean while Makoto suddenly remembered Rin's question. Why he had waited to answer she didn't know, but Haruka never said anything about why he continued to hang out with Makoto. She didn't give a reply and Haruka didn't say anything else, but she couldn't help but feel a little lighter about tonight. They had gotten the trophy like they first intended she reminded herself as she held it closer to her. They had even met Rin, even though he hadn't behaved the same way as when they last saw him. Nonetheless, as she and Haruka bid each other good night and she closed the door to her room, she found herself smiling despite the events. Tomorrow they would meet up with Nagisa and ask for permission to start a swim club and with that thought she fell asleep.

* * *

The next day at school while Haruka and Makoto sat on the roof eating lunch, Nagisa emerged through the door dragging a boy behind him who looked like he was very uncomfortable with the blonde boy. Nagisa was sporting a big smile as he waved to Makoto and Haruka and seemed not to notice the boy's obvious will to disappear right at the spot.

"Hey Mako-chan and Haru-chan! This is the one I was talking about, Rei-chan!" the blonde said and dragged the other boy closer to them. The boy, Rei, was a lot taller than the blonde and looked to be more muscular than him, yet he struggled to make Nagisa let go of his hand. Makoto briefly wondered if this was a good idea at all, forcing the poor boy to join a club they didn't even know if they had the permission to start. Yet she smiled at him and stood up with an outstretched hand.

"Hello, I'm Makoto. It's nice to meet you Rei-san. I'm sorry about Nagisa, he isn't good with people." She said to him and Nagisa now had to let go of Rei's hand, in order for Rei to shake Makoto's. Of course the thing about Nagisa being bad with people was a lie, depending on how you saw it. Nagisa had always been deviously and manipulative ever since they were kids.

After Rei had let go of her hand he turned to look at Haruka, but he was too occupied with eating his mackerel and didn't even look up at the newcomer. Makoto sighed a bit, because even if Haruka never meant to be rude, he was basically rude 97% of the day. If someone was bad with people it was Haruka.

"So, you want to help start a swim club with us, Rei-san?" Makoto asked with a kind smile towards him and he blushed a bit with embarrassment.

"W-well, Nagisa just sort of dragged me here without an explanation…" he said hesitatingly and Makoto sent the blonde a scolding look. Of course Nagisa would do such a thing she thought but before she could say something else Rei held up his hands in a defensive manner.

"B-but if it would help you then I would gladly accept." He quickly said which gained the attention of Haruka, who stood up. Without saying a word Haruka grabbed a hold on Makoto's hand and started dragging her towards the door. Surprised by the unusual action from her childhood friend Makoto didn't know what to say.

"Let's go talk to the principal right away then." Haruka turned his head slightly and Makoto saw the same twinkle in his eyes that he always had when water was involved. From the corner of her eye she could see both Nagisa and Rei following them, Nagisa bouncing happily and similar to Haruka dragged the poor boy who stumbled to keep up. She felt bad on his behalf but had to focus on her own footing unless she wanted to fall. When Haruka was determined on something almost nothing could stop him.


	5. Chapter 5

Edit: Sorry, forgot the first part of the chapter ^^'

* * *

To Makoto's surprise and Haruka's delight, they had almost immediately gotten their idea through. Mostly thanks to Nagisa, who had done all the talking and it turned out the principal himself had wanted someone to start up a swim club for a few years now. Apparently last year when she had asked there had been a lot of pressure on other groups, but now when the soccer club had disbanded there was room for a new one. The only thing he was concerned about was the state the pool was in but Nagisa had quickly piped up that they would personally fix everything regarding cleaning and repairing and that was enough for the principal to give them the registration papers.

Of course they could not have the full responsibility because no one was 18 yet. But thankfully Makoto's teacher Amakata said that she volunteered to help them out as long as she didn't have to do anything, which was fine by everyone. There was also the issue that they needed a captain on the form and without any voting whatsoever Nagisa wrote Makoto's name on the line since nobody seemed to complain anyway. Well, mentally Makoto was complaining, because knowing Nagisa and Haruka, she would probably have to deal with everything in the club since Haruka was only in it for the water, and Nagisa would probably find an excuse for everything. She wasn't sure about Rei, but since he was practically forced to join she doubted she would dare asking him anyway. With a heavy sigh from Makoto's side they left the office and Nagisa beamed.

"Let's start immediately after school! We can probably borrow some stuff from the janitor." he said and Haruka nodded beside him, eager with the thought of the pool filled with water. Or at least that's what Makoto assumed he thought, because cleaning didn't seem that appealing. Nonetheless, she smiled at him and nodded, before she reminded them that lunch was soon over.

"Alright then, we'll see you after school." Nagisa said and waved before he took a hold of Rei's hand and similar to before dragged the boy away. Before they went out of sight Makoto saw Rei whisper something to Nagisa who simply shrugged and said something back with a dismissive wave of his hand. Makoto turned back to look at Haruka and smiled at him.

"Shall we go, Haru?" she asked him just as the bell went off and Haruka gave a small nod of his head before he turned around and walked to their homeroom, Makoto following him.

* * *

"Ugh, it's dirtier than I thought." Nagisa complained as he scrubbed the bottom of the pool with a brush and only managed to uncover a new layer of dirt. The janitor had been kind enough to let them borrow some scrubbers and detergents. Thought the dirt covered more than enough of the pool it seemed as if it were intact and they would probably not even need to repair it, only fill it with water. Makoto took a peek at Haruka who seemed to be the most enthusiastic about getting the pool clean and scrubbed vigorously at a spot. She chuckled when she saw him so determined but stopped when she notice a figure standing on the other side of the fence.

"Nagisa, who is that?" she turned around and asked the blonde boy who seemed relieved to be able to pause in his scrubbing. He turned his head to the fence and scrunched his eyes, searching for a name to match the figure. Makoto now saw that it was a girl with a uniform from their school, but she didn't recognize her. Until Rei noticed her too.

"That is Matsouka Gou, a freshman attending class B." he said and adjusted his glasses absently, not realizing he smudged some dirt on them. Suddenly Makoto remembered that it was Rin's sister and she wondered for a brief moment if that meant that Rin too was attending Iwatobi. Before she could ask it out loud however, Gou seemed to have found the gate and walked in to stand at the pool's edge, looking down on them while they scrubbed.

"It is you guys." She said in awe as her eyes went from Haruka and Makoto to Nagisa. Makoto remembered that she had always been around Rin and naturally always had been on their swim practices and cheered them on even when they weren't swimming. Gou suddenly seemed to realize that she hadn't said anything else than that and her words quickly spilled out from her mouth.

"I heard from some other kids that they swim club was opening up and since I didn't know anyone else who swam except for Haruka-senpai , Makoto-senpai and Nagisa-kun, I thought I could come and see if it was you. " she said and smiled now at them and Makoto found herself smiling back at her.

"If Gou-chan is here, does that mean Rin-chan is here as well?" Nagisa suddenly asked and had moved from his scrubbers to the edge where Gou stood. He wasn't quite tall enough to see over the edge and had to crane his neck backwards in order to see her at all. At that question Gou looked surprised at them, as if they had missed some big news.

"Call me Kou, and Rin is in Australia, I thought you would remember?" she said with a look of suspicion and crossed her arms across her chest. Makoto felt herself wondering if Rin hadn't told anyone else than them about his arrival. If that was the case, then why did he come back now? She stood up and walked closer to Gou and Nagisa and in comparison to Nagisa she could see over the edge, but still leaned a bit backwards so she could make eye contact with Gou.

"I'm afraid that he is not in Australia anymore. You see, we met him yesterday at our old club." Makoto said with an apologetic smile, knowing that Rin meant a lot to Gou and apparently hadn't even announced that he was back.

For a moment it was silent, Gou standing on the edge and staring down into the ground with a thoughtful face. Behind Makoto there could be heard scrapes from Haruka, who didn't even stop to listen to the conversation, and from the corner of her eye she could see that Rei had gotten closer. Suddenly Gou let out an annoyed huff of air and she looked determined when she met Makoto's eyes.

"I guess he's too old to care about telling his sister. Whatever. I don't care." She said to them all before she took a long look at the pool. She suddenly seemed to get an idea. "Do you need another member?" she asked them with a smile and Nagisa started to almost bounce in his place.

"Gou-chan in a bathing suit?" he asked with excitement written all over his face and Gou immediately replaced her smile with an irritated scowl.

"It's still Kou! And I won't swim. I meant like a manager or something, since I haven't chosen a club yet and I need to choose by the end of this week." She said and ignored Nagisa when he pleaded that she should swim with them. Instead she met Makoto's eyes once again, as if asking for permission. Makoto herself turned towards Haruka, but he was still busy scrubbing and didn't seem to take note of anything. Well, technically she had the final word seeing as she was the captain so asking Haruka wouldn't be needed.

"That would be great, Kou-san." Makoto said with a smile towards her and Gou seemed to lighten up with a faint blush covering her cheeks.

"But you should swim, because Rei-chan can't." Nagisa suddenly butted in and made a gesture to the boy in question, who looked utterly embarrassed when all eyes including Haruka's turned to him with looks of disbelief. Haruka seemed to be most upset by it; Makoto knew that he probably was, seeing as water and swimming went hand in hand with each other. Rei in turn nervously fixed his glasses' position, yet again unaware of the dirt he brought with the gesture.

"Ah, well…" he started awkwardly and let out an uneasy laugh as he tried to look anywhere but at the others. "I-it's not like I haven't ever swum before, but- well, it was a long time ago and I was never that good at it…" he stuttered with a red face, obviously uncomfortable in his current position. Sensing that they would come nowhere with this, Makoto decided to speak up.

"It's okay, Rei-san, we can teach you how." She told him with a friendly smile and Nagisa nodded in agreement beside her. Rei seemed to let out a sigh of relief at that. She gave a quick glance towards Haruka and noticed that he had gone back to scrub the pool. Well, she and Nagisa knew enough to teach him, they didn't really need Haruka's help for that. Still, it would be nice if he could be more help to others than just himself.

"Oh, it's getting late." Gou cleared her throat and said while looking at her watch. Makoto in turn looked at hers and saw that it was already past six o'clock. They had been scrubbing for hours then and Makoto needed to be home before seven, a rule her mother had recently came up with. She knew that Makoto was always punctual, but she said that it was good to know when she could start to worry if she was late.

"Shall we call it a day?" she said and smiled towards the others and both Nagisa and Rei happily nodded at her. She saw that Haruka hesitated a bit before he too gave a small nod. She turned to Gou who had already begun to make her way towards the gate and waved at her and received a wave in return.

"Well then, let's get going and we'll continue tomorrow." Makoto said and crawled up from the pool.

* * *

It took them another two days to finish cleaning the pool and another day to fill it up. While the pool was being pumped with water they cleaned the locker rooms and Makoto suddenly realized that she hadn't thought about the swimming itself as much as starting the club. How would she be able to swim with the other boys? When she was younger she had used swimming trunks, but now it would be impossible to do because of her breasts. What's more, the locker room had no bathroom directly connected and no other hidden spaces except for the showers and it would look really suspicious if she changed in the shower room.

Therefore, she felt more and more anxious as the pool filled up. Of course, they wouldn't be able to swim yet since it was too cold, although Makoto saw how Haruka longingly looked outside to the water while leaning on the mop. Makoto shook her head lightly to herself as she turned to focus on dusting off all the dust and cobweb from the shelf and jumped a bit in surprise when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She knew that she was easily frightened, but this was ridiculous.

"Sorry if I scared you, I was just wondering if something's wrong Mako-chan. You're awfully quiet." Nagisa asked her as she turned around with a questioning look. Well, she couldn't tell him that she was afraid of exposing her secret or that she was wondering where she could change. Instead, she chose to take one of the smaller concerns she had at the moment.

"Nothing's wrong Nagisa, I just realized that I don't own any swimwear. At least not anything I still can fit into." She said truthfully because it was true. Her main issue about swimwear would be to find something that wasn't a swimsuit but still covered the top of her body. When Nagisa heard her explanation he seemed to remember something.

"Well, all mines are too small as well I think. I don't think Rei-chan own one either..." He said thoughtfully and casted a glance to Gou who stood on the other side of the room and swiped with a broom "and maybe we can convince Gou-chan to buy a bikini as well?" he whispered to Makoto, who blushed a bit at that, with a grin on his face. Suddenly Nagisa turned around and ran to Rei, who in surprise knocked over a bucket of dirty water to the floor.

"Rei-chan, tomorrow we'll go buy swimming trunks all five of us!" Nagisa said cheerfully as he clamped over the water. At that Gou looked up and turned towards the blonde with a slightly confused face.

"What, me too? I won't buy anything you know." Gou said stubbornly and Nagisa pouted slightly at her. Gou casted a quick glance towards Makoto and blushed slightly. "Although, since all of you are going and I'm part of the club as well, I'll come with you." She said and then mumbled something to herself as she avoided looking at Makoto. Makoto was a bit confused and thought she heard something about muscles. Which reminded her of another thing, they were all pretty out of shape, save for maybe Rei, depending on if he had other activities.

"Why don't we go today?" Haruka suddenly said, having crept up beside Makoto and surprised all of them by talking for the first time that day. After getting rid of the confusion everyone turned to Makoto and patiently waited for an answer, including Haruka.

"Haru, you're the one who needs new swim trunks the least. You own about ten pair already." She tried to reason with him, but he looked unfazed. Clearly he didn't see the issue here. He simply let out a 'can we?' and Makoto looked in Nagisa's direction, hoping he or Rei would help her out, but alas, the same question was on their faces. Why did she have to make all the decisions if she didn't really get a say in anything?

"Alright!" she sighed loudly "We'll go immediately, if we want to make it before closing hours." No sooner than she said it all of them dropped their tools and was out the door. Carefully she set down the feather duster and went after them. She briefly wondered if it was a plot against her in order to quit cleaning.

* * *

"You should try this one Rei-chan- oh, this one too." Nagisa practically bounced as he picked up various trunks and tossing them to poor Rei, who seemed almost overwhelmed by the big pile in his arms, however his protests went unnoticed by the blonde. Gou had after about five minutes become bored by their behavior and had sat down on a chair near the fitting rooms and found a sports magazine she lazily flipped through. Haruka had gone to the place where he always picked up his swimsuits while Makoto was now anxiously browsing different trunks.

To pick one which didn't have a top was out of the question of course, and a swimsuit was also not a good choice. What's more, if she didn't buy anything now it would probably look suspicious. She was about to stop looking and try a different shelf when she noticed a longer garment hanging from a hanger. Carefully she took it out and examined her. To her joy she saw it was some sort of body suit with green lines on it that would definitely cover the most necessary parts. With a smile on her face she picked out her size and walked past Gou and into a fitting room. A bit cautious she took of her shirt and pants and quickly slid into the suit.

She observed herself in the mirror and her lips quirked upward. It fitted her perfectly and she was relieved that her breast wasn't even visible, thanks to her taping them earlier this morning. She didn't get much time to examine herself as the curtains of her changing room suddenly were yanked back and Nagisa almost walked in. He stopped himself however and smile apologetic.

"Sorry Mako-chan, I thought it was unoccupied." He said and Makoto blushed slightly. Before Nagisa closed the curtains he gave her a thumb up. "You should buy that, it looks good." He said as Makoto heard the curtains next to her open and close. Makoto had frozen the second that Nagisa had seen her, but now she let out a small breath she didn't realize she had been holding. He hadn't suspected anything. That was good, no, great. She would definitely buy this one. She quickly stripped down from the suit and put on her clothes in a rushed tempo, afraid that Nagisa or someone else would come in again, and then went out to Gou.

She sat down next to the red-haired girl and patiently waited for Nagisa, Rei and Haruka to finish with whatever they were doing. Gou gave her a small smile before she turned back to the magazine. Rei was the first one to come out of the fitting rooms, holding a pair of trunks in his hands. Second was Nagisa, who held the same brand as Rei but different color. Both stood opposite of her and Gou and conversation soon emerged as they waited for their fifth member. After seven minutes however, Haruka still hadn't shown up. Nagisa walked by all the curtains and looked through the gap on the bottom. When he returned he shook his head at them.

"There's no one there." He said and shrugged at them. Frowning, Makoto stood up and looked over the racks and shelves, but she didn't see him either. Slightly worried about him Makoto said that they should go out and look for him and they all nodded at the suggestion. They went to the cashier and paid for everything before they headed to the exit.

Makoto walked through the front door and walked left, followed by Gou, while Rei and Nagisa went the other way. They hadn't walked far when Gou reacted beside her and started walking faster. By squinting her eyes Makoto saw a silhouette not far from her, silently cursing her contact lenses for not being able to see clearly, and she too sped up thinking it was Haruka. Only to notice what Gou had probably done before her, he wasn't alone. Because in front of him stood a glaring Rin and as both she and Gou came closer she could hear that their tones were far from friendly. Rin was about to snarl something at Haruka, when he noticed his sister and Makoto approaching them.

"Rin!" Gou almost yelled at him and he backed away a bit as she approached him, surprise evident on his face. He looked as if he was about to say something to her, but he didn't get the chance before Gou stopped a few meters from him and crossed her arms. "Why didn't you tell me or mom that you were back?" she said accusingly while maintaining a glare. Haruka had turned around when he had heard them come and looked back and forth between the siblings while Makoto awkwardly stood behind the redheaded girl. At that, Rin's face went from surprised to annoyed.

"You knew I was going to come back this month, I don't see why you should care about the exact time." He huffed at her and his arms were also crossed over his chest. It didn't seem as if he was going to continue and judging by Gou's sour expression Makoto knew that she wasn't done. However, she knew that a fight could be avoided and they also needed to catch the train or else they'd have to wait for at least two more hours. So naturally, Makoto decided to step up between the two redheads with a nervous smile.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you two, but if we want to get home in time we need to leave soon. Could you perhaps have this conversation any other time?" she said quietly but she knew that they must have heard her. Gou turned around with a huff and made her way back to the shop, probably to find Nagisa and Rei, and Rin gave her an uncomfortable glare. Luckily, Haruka seemed to notice her discomfort and walked to her.

"We will also talk about this another time." Haruka said neutrally to Rin, who like his sister turned around with an annoyed 'whatever', before he left the two of them alone, heading towards the city area. To say Makoto was confused was an understatement. Sure she got why Gou and Rin were mad at each other, but what Rin and Haruka had talked about remained a mystery, and she didn't want to pry.

"Shall we go, Makoto?" Haruka asked her when Rin was out of earshot and she nodded. They soon met up with the other three and made their way to the train station, after Haruka had bought two swimsuits identical to the one's he already owned. While Nagisa happily talked all the time Gou remained quiet as Haruka, which of course worried Makoto. When they boarded the train Makoto took the liberty of sitting next to Gou.

"Something wrong?" she asked her politely although she knew that Rin's new attitude probably bothered her.

"It's just that…" Gou started and then hesitated a bit, but when she looked up at Makoto and was given a reassuring smile, she decided to continue. "Well, he has been so cold the last couple of years, not as noticeable as now though. Also, he didn't tell me that he would come back. I actually had to ask mom after you said he was here, and she told me that she hadn't expected him to come back already." She let out a sigh and stared out of the window for a while, before she turned to the brunette with a forced smile. "Ah, well, let's not worry about that. He's back in one piece, which is good enough for me." She said curtly, not letting Makoto get a chance to say anything, which she didn't.

When Makoto came home she once again tried on the swimsuit again, just to double-check and once again she saw that it looked good and with a smile she changed into her pajama. Shortly after both Ren and Ran came over to her room and they played video games until all three of them fell asleep. One of her worries had been solved today, and she didn't want to dwell on the other. Besides, before the pool was warm enough to swim in, she might have found an alternative way to change before practice.


End file.
